Infinity Spine Center Blog

10 Must-Do’s When Traveling To Stay Healthy, Rested, And Focused

Think back to the last time you traveled over 2 hours. Car or plane: have you ever noticed how your energy is sapped after traveling?

With the holiday season approaching it probably means you’re traveling more than your usual. There are some simple things you can do to combat the fatigue and low energy levels. When you do these must-do things, it’ll help your energy and focus be as consistent as the morning sunrise. Before we get into the must-do’s, you have to know rule #1. Rule #1 is to control your thoughts when things don’t go according to plan. If only it were that easy, right? Let’s be realistic, shit happens but learning to control your thoughts and emotions when all hell breaks loose is one of the most powerful tools for your health, energy, and focus.

One of the best ways to trigger the control of your emotions is with your breath. Watch some videos of martial artists. Pay close attention to the way they control their breathing when they are getting pummeled in the bottom of the mount. Some of the best martial artists and yogis spend a good minute of their day doing breath control exercises.

When all hell breaks loose, immediately bring your attention to your breath by focusing on one slow and full exhale. Be sure that you don’t take a deep breath in–that’s what most do in stressful situations. When you take a deep breath in you can hyperventilate which leads to lowered oxygen in your cells. Instead, exhale completely and slowly. When you lengthen the time it takes to exhale fully, you’ll slow down your fight/flight nervous system. When you put the brakes on your fight/flight nervous system, you help keep your stress and sex hormones in check. The stress and sex hormones, such as cortisol, estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, are the ones that get jacked up when you’re under chronic stress. After all, why would your glands produce hormones associated with growth and repair when your brain is telling the glands that a lion is on your tail? It’s no wonder so many people have hormone issues!

Aside from you mastering your breath and emotions to unforeseen situations, here are your 10 must do strategies to keep you healthy, rested, and focused during your travels.

1. Do 4th-grade arm circles. Remember when you were in PE class doing huge arm circles as a warm up? Do the same thing. Do hip circles too. If you’re on a flight, stand up and stroll up and down the aisle sneaking in a couple of arm and hip circles. Try to stand up every hour. If you have a middle or window seat be “that passenger.” Be sure you have the biggest arm and hip circles of anyone on the flight. And do them slowly to hit all the little crevices.

2. Fly Bono style. If you’re on a flight, cover your body and eyes from the artificial light. Red glasses and clothes protect you from stress and aging as a result of the lights used on the plane. Light, on the skin and in your eyes, is a major controller to your circadian rhythm. Your circadian rhythm dictates many bodily functions including hormone production and immune system activation.

3. Obey your circadian rhythm by timing your travels when the sun is up. If you are traveling to the east, avoid afternoon and evening flights that get you in after sunset. Avoid red-eye flights like the plague.

4. Wear a respiratory mask on the plane. The mask helps to filter poor quality air in the plane cabin. The mask also acts to limit the amount of air you can breathe in which helps push oxygen from your blood into your cells. Oxygen in the cells is where you want it. Bonus: noise pollution can over stimulate your brain too. Consider wearing ear plugs on the flight.

5. When you get to your destination, find a grassy area to the ground. Search on Yelp for “park” in the zip code of your destination. Even if you are in a big city, there’s usually a nearby park with some grassy area. Be sure that you’re barefoot. Grounding after a flight is essential for your cells because of all the man-made EMF exposure associated with flying through the sky in a giant metal tube with everyone on the flight using their phone or computer.

6. Fast post-flight. This is especially important if you land after sunset. Fasting increases the rate of autophagy and mitophagy. These are healthy cell processes used to get rid of “sick” mitochondria (the part of your cell that uses light energy to turn your food into usable energy).

7. Be sure you catch sunrise the morning after your travels particularly if you are changing time zones. Light is a MAJOR controller of your circadian rhythm. As your breakfast is cooking watch sunrise, ground, and do breathwork as a bonus. This is a modern-day equivalent to the Contra cheat code for unlimited lives. Remember the spread gun? “Up, up, down, down, left, right…”

8. Before your flight, do a Google search for Whole Foods or a local health food store near your destination. Head to the grocery store after your 20-minute grounding session at the local park or grassy area, so you have food for the following day.

9. Get a kitchen if you’re staying in an Airbnb or hotel. If you are visiting with family or friends, do #8 and take over their kitchen. Eating out will destroy your health as most restaurants use substandard food such as the oils they use for cooking. Many “healthy” restaurants use oils loaded with poor quality fats that will smoke your metabolism and immune system.

10. Travel + loads of EMF + less sunlight = recipe for flu and other illnesses. Go ahead and have the occasional cheat food but be careful not to overindulge especially when your cells are up against the ropes with less sun and sleep and getting blasted with man-made EMF.